Trouble Breathing
by Mourning Dahl
Summary: Jim Knight's been having trouble breathing, and it isn't until he visits Kathryn in the hospital does he find out why.


" _Your Highness, it's an ambush!"_

 _The knight pushed the king out of the way of the bandits, quickly taking a fighting stance. But the knight had forgotten the curse placed on his king, and as he prepared to lay down his life for the king and his beautiful daughter, he felt his feet stiffen. The knight looked on in horror as he began to turn to gold._

" _No," he whispered. "No!"_

 _This couldn't be happening. He was meant to marry his true love, live happily ever after._

" _Fredrick!"_

 _His last sight was his beautiful Abigail, riding away with another soldier, tears streaking down her cheeks, reaching desperately for him._

Jim Knight bolted up in his bed, gasping for breath. For the last few weeks, Jim had woken from dreams like that: being encased in gold, unable to move. He'd wake up, gasping for air, opening the window to feel the cool breeze. He stood gasping for a few moments, but this time it wasn't enough. He still couldn't catch his breath.

Throwing on a shirt and grabbing his truck keys, Jim practically ran out the door. He didn't know where he was headed, just drove, letting the windows down so the air could fill him. Before he knew where he was, he was at the town line. The knot around his chest had loosened somewhat, but as his headlights illuminated the sign, and the crashed car beside it, all breath seemed to leave his body altogether. 

_What am I doing here?_

A few weeks later, Jim Knight walked through the halls of the Storybrooke hospital, asking himself that question over and over again. But ever since hearing that Kathryn Nolan had been found alive, going and seeing her was something that had been occupying his thoughts. Bumping into her at the school had been the start of this thinking. After all, he had been the one to find her abandoned car. He was just checking up on her, he told himself.

A nurse pointed him in the direction of her room, warning him to be quiet, she was still asleep. When he entered, she was asleep, her blonde hair fanned out against like the pillow, her eyebrows scrunched together in pain. Jim inched closer to her, and heard her whisper, "Fredrick."

It was like he had been struck. Jim rushed to Kathryn's side, sliding his hand into hers.

"It's okay," he whispered. "You're safe."

 _Fredrick? I thought her husband was David._

"Fredrick," Kathryn whimpered again, gripping Jim's hand. Tears slid down her cheeks, and Jim gently wiped them away.

"Kathryn, it's okay," Jim whispered. "You're dreaming, wake up."

With a gasp, she awoke, her terrified blue eyes darting around the room, quickly landing on Jim, who awkwardly took his hand away from hers.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice hoarse. "What are you doing here?"

"My name's Jim, I'm a coach over at the school," he explained gently.

"What are you doing here?" Kathryn repeated, more forcefully this time.

"I… I honestly don't know," Jim replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Do we know each other?"

"Um, no. I suppose I should go, I'm sorry, Kathryn."

Jim stood from his chair, his cheeks burning red. Before reaching the door, his curiosity got the best of him and he turned back to Kathryn, who was settling back into bed.

"I'm sorry, but before you woke up, you said the name Fredrick. Who is he?"

Kathryn looked at him confusion. "I don't know anyone by that name. You must've heard wrong."

Jim nodded and once more put his hand on the doorknob, ready to leave, when a band of rainbow-colored light passed through him.

For a moment, he was still as a statue. Slowly, he turned around to the woman he loved, who wore the same shocked expression as him. He could see in her expression that she remembered everything too.

"Abigail?" he whispered. He could see her in her finest princess dresses, not in the hospital gown she was in. He could see her riding away as he turned to gold, and her look of loving relief as he was revived.

A smile broke over her face, and he remembered the first time she said that she loved him.

"Fredrick, you're here," she murmured.

Fredrick ran back to her open arms and the two embraced tightly.

"You found me," she whispered, her voice thick with happy tears. Fredrick held her tighter, finally able to breathe.


End file.
